A SOCIAL security fraudster who had a series of jobs including one as a Midland college lecturer dishonestly claimed more than #26,000 in benefits while saying he was unemployed.

A SOCIAL security fraudster who had a series of jobs including one as a Midland college lecturer dishonestly claimed more than #26,000 in benefits while saying he was unemployed.

And Darren Bodenham continued to cheat the system almost up to the time when he appeared in court to be sentenced.

Bodenham, 35, of Normanton Tower, Portfield Grove, Erdington, pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances, one of dishonestly making false representations and asked for six similar offences to be taken into consideration. He was jailed for a year.

"It is sometimes committed by people who are very low in intelligence and out of necessity, they would claim, but in your case you are clearly not an unintelligent man and you clearly knew what you were doing.

"It is quite clear that you took the attitude: 'I may as well just carry on and get as much as I can'."

Kevin Saunders, prosecuting, said Bodenham had been claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that he was a lone parent, was unemployed and had no other source of income.

In fact, he said, the defendant had a job as a lecturer at a college in Sutton Coldfield from which he was earning #14,000 a year.

He said Bodenham was also illegally claiming benefit by failing to declare he had sub-let his property for 18 months to his partner.

Mr Saunders said Bodenham was interviewed but while the investigation was going on he continued to work in October and December last year while claiming benefits, getting a job at Tesco and also at a pub in Great Barr.

Glenda Vencatachellum, defending, said Bodenham, who had previous convictions for dishonesty, had initially done a computing course at the college and that when he was asked to do some lecturing work it had gone to his head.

She said as far as the offence concerning his partner was concerned he had never viewed their relationship as a permanent one although he accepted he should have informed the authorities about it.